Industrial Trainee Review

I am thoroughly enjoying my placement and it is exceeding my expectations. I am learning a lot every day and feel I am gaining many more valuable skills and knowledge, of which I could only learn through doing a placement. The work I am doing is interesting, challenging and rewarding, and it is enjoyable to be working on projects that will be coming to life in the real world, in comparison to doing research and example exercises at university.

My team has been very welcoming from the start of my placement. I have felt valued and included in the project as my team members are thoughtful and give me suggestions to attend meetings and online learning seminars in order to enhance my own experience. I am included in social activities not only within my team but also office wide, which makes me feel like a valuable part of the company.

My supervisors are busy and sometimes hard to reach but they make sure to check in on me regularly and I am completely comfortable in asking them for support or guidance. Management also organise placement reviews where I have the opportunity to discuss and give ideas for my personal development throughout my placement, and management can support and guide me through this.

During the first few weeks of my placement I was not that busy which was great for settling into the office and adapting to the work flow. My workload increased gradually and I am now busy on a daily basis without being overworked. My team members are great at making sure I am not given too much work to do at the same time.

I would say that I have been given more responsibility than I expected, as I have been given individual work that is essential to the project, rather than only working with a partner or within a team. It is an enjoyable amount of responsibility as it is not too much so as to make me feel uncomfortable.

I feel like I have gained a great amount of skill and knowledge that will for certain help me in my final year of my studies, and I will enjoy my studies more knowing how valuable they really are. Also just the experience of working in an office environment has given me more life skills that I will be able to carry with me in future interviews and job positions.

There is a generally positive atmosphere in the office, everyone is very friendly and welcoming. Agile working means that we all sit next to different people every day and are able to make new connections throughout the whole office. Moral is high and the office kitchen is always a great place to interact and relax.

The placement is very organised and the process is clearly refined through past experiences and suggestions. There is a large amount of information offered at the start of the placement, tailored to placement students. The current staff are knowledgeable in the kind of work and experience a placement student should be receiving.

This company is very personal development focused and there are many opportunities for development. There are presentations, meetings to share ideas, and a whole team to contact regarding a variety of personal development areas. I feel like I have the best opportunities I can have given that I am only working for the company for a short period of time.

The organisation are known to employ past placement students and many of the current staff first worked for the company during a placement. I am made to feel positive about future employment prospects and have already been suggested to come back and work a summer placement after a year of studies.

There have been many new starter social activities and we all communicate together regularly as fellow placement students. There is always the opportunity to socialise together and it is great to be involved in a community of which everyone is in the same position as yourself. The company is also open to suggestions and initiatives for social events.

The cost of living is higher in the city centre, but there are many great surrounding areas in Birmingham which are an easy commute to the centre. Socialising is not cheap in the immediate area of the office but the restaurants, pubs and bars are of high quality and worth the price.

There is a popular nightlife scene in the immediate area of the office, with many busy bars and pubs just around the corner. The city centre is always busy because of the size of the city, it is within a fair distance of the office, and there is a variety of places all with different music styles and atmospheres.

There were some opportunities to get involved in a few sports activities outside of work, but there is definitely room for more. However, I have been aware that there is a team to contact regarding office activities and they are always open to suggestions, so there is a good opportunity to suggest more activities.